Dental floss holder



July 25, 1950 J. M. ATOLS Y DENTAL FLOSS HOLDER Filed oclt. 10, 1946 Patented July 25, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENTOFEICE John M. Atols, Chicago, Ill. Application October 10, lsla'sorial No. 702,554

This invention relates to dental floss holders and more particularly to floss holders wherein a length of dental floss is maintained in a convenient position and in a taut manner for use in dental treatment.

An object of the invention is to provide a compact, sanitary, efiicient and economical holder wherein a length of dental floss has both its ends placed under firm tension, the floss being unyieldingly held under such tension despite the stresses occasioned by normal use.

Another object contemplates the provision of a holder having a reservoir capable of holding a commercial roll of dental floss so that successive lengths of floss may be readily utilized with the holder.

The invention is characterized in part by the feature that both ends of a length of dental floss are securely clamped in position and are placed under extreme tensile stress. To this end, the holder has a tapered slot and a cooperating tapered arm which is pivoted in such a manner as to be selectively movable into the slot. The two ends of the utilized length of dental floss are aligned across the face of the slot, and the arm is actuated to cause the floss ends to be wedged within the slot. A suitably tapered threaded sleeve is rotated to force the arm farther into the slot, thus to apply extreme tension to the floss ends. This construction serve also to rigidly secure the floss ends so no displacement occurs despite the stressing to which the length of floss is subjected during use.

7 In the drawings:

Fig. 1 i a side elevational view of a dental floss holder embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is an elevational exploded view of the holder;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view on line 33 of Fig. 1, and

Fig. 4 is a sectional View on line 44 of Fig. 3.

Referring now to the drawing, the holder has a handle 10 in the form of a cylinder, the hollow interior of which is adapted to receive a standard roll of dental floss. The bottom of handle I is closed as shown at l I, and the exterior surface at the upper end i provided with threads 3 Claims. (Cl. 132-92) l2 (Fig. 2). Threads l2 desirably have a substantial pitch, and they also have substantial depth. The interior surface of handle H] at the upper end is provided with threads l3 (Fig. t) to receive a presently to be described upper end portion. I p

A sleeve i5 is associated with handle In, the sleeve having internal thread I6 (Fig. 4) for association with threads ,llat the upper end of the handle. The internal threads [6 of the sleeve have substantial depth and their internal edges define a tapering surface, the narrow dimension being at the bottom I! of the sleeve and the wide dimension being at the top l8. The taper has been exaggerated som'ewhaton the drawing for clarity. The purpose of the taper will be apparent hereinafter.

The holder has an elongated neck 20 extending from handle l0 and terminating in a bifurcated end portion having spaced arms 2! and 22. A notch 23 is provided in the end of each arm. A guide 24 which may consist of two oppositely disposed lugs is provided on neck 26 "at the end thereof near the base of arms 2| and 22 As will be seen, the length of dental'floss used with the holder extends through guide 24, a notch 23 at the end of one arm, acros the space'between the two arm ends, through the notch in the end of the other arm and back through the guide 24.

The base of neck 20 has an enlarged flange 30 and a reduced associated portion 3! provided by a pin 31, as best shown in Fig.3. The member 36 is adapted to engage 'slot 35' and when so engaged (as shown in the full lines of Fig. 3)" at least a portion of the'periphery thereof extends somewhat beyond the peripheryof flange 38. The portion of the periphery of membertfi which extends beyond the periphery of flangetli maybe serrated, as shown at 38, for ease in manually manipulating the member. The periphery of member 36, particularly in the serrated portion, is provided with an outward taper from the bottom to the top, this taper being adapted to cooperate with the taper of the threaded interior radially inward of flange 30 and associated por H tion 8! to permit passage of the dental floss from the handle interior.

The above described dental floss holder is arranged for use by moving sleeve Hi to a position on handle somewhat below the top of the handle. As the thread pitch may be substantial,

only a small amount of turning is necessary. Neck 2 0 is rotated to disengage closure portion 31 from he han n r er to permit loadi of the and n er or. W th a; r ll. o dental floss 45 (Fig. 2 Thejfree end '46 (Fig.4) or the floss is inserted insljot H, and closure plortionjiil is re- A placed:

y The member 36 is pivoted, to an outward position (shown by the dotted lines in Fig, s), and the protruding end 46 of the dental floss is threaded through, guide, In, guide 24, a notch 23 o e arm, men .3 in th ther m, k'

'thmueh an as?! an ,.1 0 a p sition e w th pivoted member 35.. The two floss ends thus. extend across, the taee of "slot or, neck '20. The

memb r, henp r'o e'd n ar y olbear up the two, ends of the floss and forte-them into the tapered slot '35. ''111'reafte'r, sleeve [5 is cre e u wardly onuha l t into. engagement w th h em e '35,- h jtap rs onthe p p y of member '36, the interior of sleeve 13 cm,

operate to, force member 3,6v farther into slot 35.

"The tapers oi thefilot and; those on the top and bottom. of member '35. c perate to. grip the floss securely and place the, ends thereof under extrenie tension, thus to. maintain the floss extends be n armsz a '22 in an. ex e e t condi ion. Since the member 36, wedges, the floss e ds ig tly n s ot the floss, is m n a inits desirably taut condition regardless of the amount of stress imposed upon the floss during normal use, within, of course, the natu al yield i i of e 9 5 When the exposed portion of the floss. ha'sbeen suffic'j ent y used, anew e stl of fl ss. is pla ed. in usable positibn merely by releasing member 35 and withdrawing a length from roll t5. Thereafter, member 3.6, is clamped inwardly upon the. ends of the new length by proper adinstment of sleeve [5.

From the aboye-description itis thought that the construction advantages-0t this invention will be readily apparent to those skilled in, the art. Various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit or losing the advantages of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Pat- 'ent is:

l. A dental floss holder comprising a handle having a hollow interior adapted to receive a 7 roll of dental floss, a sleeve around and in ,4 threaded engagement with one end of said handle, the interior threaded surface of said sleeve being tapered, a closure for the threaded end of said handle having an opening therethrough for the passage of dental floss, a neck extending from said closure, a pair of spaced arms extending from the neck end away from said closure, floss guides at the free ends of said arms and on said neck, said neck having a transverse slot at the end thereof adjacent said closure, said slot having; inwardly taperedsides, a member disposed in interfitting relation with said slot and being adapted to be selectively brought into engagement with said slot, said member having sides tapered for cooperation with the taper of the slot, said member when substantially within said slot extending somewhat beyond the periphery of said closure, the periphery of said member having a taper for cooperation with the taper of said sleeve interior wherebysaid sleeve may be moved to embrace said member and to force said member to an extreme position within said slot.

2. A dental floss h'older comprising a handle having a hollow interior adapted'to receive a roll of dental floss, a closure for one end" of said handle, a neck extending from said closure, apair of spaced arms extending from the end of said neck away from said closure, floss guides at the ends of said arms and "on said neck, said neck having a transverse 'slot'at the end thereof adiacent said closure, said slot havinginwardly tapering sides; a member disposed in interfitting relation with sai'dsljot and being adapted to, be selectively moved into'an d out of said slot, the sides of said member being tapered to cooperate with the tapered sides of said-slot, said member when substantially within said slot extending somewhat beyond the periphery 'of said closure, and a sleeve associatedwithsaid handle adapted to 'be moved toiembrace said member, said sleeve having a tapered interior whereby movement of said sleeve forces said member to an extreme 'positionwithm'said'slot. c

3.'A dental floss holder comprising a handle, a neck extending fromsaiid handle, a pair of spaced arms extending from the 'endofsai'd neck away from said handle, floss guides at the ends of said arms and on said "neclgfsaid nec'k having a transverse slot'the'rein at'the handle end thereof, the sides of said slotbeing tapered inwardly, a member disposed ininter'fitting relation with said slot and adapted 'tofbe selectively moved into and out of said slot, salidmember having sides 1 tapered to cooperate withthe tapered sides of said slot, and a, tapered sleeve associated with said handle and movable toembrace said memher to thereby force said member to an extreme position within said slot.

JOHN M. ATOLS.

REFERENCES" CITED The following references are ofrecord in the file of this patent;

UNITED "STATES PATENTS Number Name ate,v

754,841 Bessonet Mar. 15,1904 844,181 O'verbau'gh Feb. '12; 1 .0.7 1,239,633 Stickler Sept. 11,191? 1,833,671 Byars s Nov, 24, 1931 1970,575 Reitzel Auger, 1934 

